Jr. High Basketball 2014

Madison just finished up her first school basketball season.  She was uncomfortable at first with the novelty of it all. The unfamiliar has always stressed her out. New coach, new team, new everything. The first part of the season she was scared. To. Death. She was so caught up in everything that was new that I think she forgot this was her fourth year to play basketball. I could not figure out why she seemed to be so panicked out there, so finally I asked her, "Madison, what are you thinking about out there? I mean,  what is your focus?"

She said, "Doing a good job."

"At what?" I asked.

Her answer was, "Everything."

Ah. That explains it. I told her, "Okay. Tonight, I want you to focus on one thing and one thing only. The basketball. Get the basketball. Get a rebound, get a steal. If you don't have it, get it. If you have it, protect it. If you are open, shoot it. Think of nothing else but that basketball." She was a different kid after that. Like it all came back to her. It is hard to go from being the oldest on your team, where you play a lot and feel like you have a lot to contribute, to being the youngest on your team, where you sit a little more and wonder if your team needs you. I thought I had prepared her for that, but it bothered her more than I expected. They finished their season second in the conference with two tournament championships. The last few games were her best of the season, which I hope she will remember for next year.

At first I think she felt like her first season was a lot of work, but by the end she was really having a good time. She enjoyed spending time with this group of girls. Now that she knows what to expect, she is looking forward to next year. There are things about basketball that are wonderful, and there are things about it that are hard. I don't know if she always appreciates my wisdom, but I told her that years from now, she will remember the good parts of basketball much more clearly than the hard ones.

She will not remember the details from each game; the exact scores, or even the games where she spent more time on the bench than on the floor (I did not tell her that the 1995 State Champion banner at Meadville did still rub me the wrong way when I saw it at her game). She won't even remember every single plaque, trophy, or medal, or the struggle to balance school work with morning practice. What she will remember is the way it feels when the crowd roars for her team, and the feeling that comes from teamwork and team unity. What she will carry from basketball, more than anything else, will be her teammates, and the memories she is making as they become her friends for life. Someday, if she is lucky enough to cheer for her own daughter from the sidelines, she will remember these girls the most.